


better when you're begging

by miraimisu



Series: The 400 Coin Quest [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: 400cq-based, F/M, Fingering, NSFW, Oral, Seduction, Sexual Content, Teeth-rotting amounts of Fluff, The shame I'm feeling writing these tags is indescribable, Vaginal, can be interpreted as a Royalty!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:15:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24505258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraimisu/pseuds/miraimisu
Summary: The only person in this world that could ever bring the Emperor to his knees is none other than his beloved Empress.
Relationships: Gladio | Gladion/Moon
Series: The 400 Coin Quest [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539001
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19





	better when you're begging

**Author's Note:**

> I have finally taken my innocent mask off and I'm revealing my colors with 14k of smut, you're welcome don't look at me
> 
> \- If you're a minor please don't read this hgjkdlsñds  
> \- The fic has no plot, but any hint thereof can be ignored. It spoils the ending of 400cq though, but you can just ignore that LMAO  
> \- If the prior instance is to be taken into account, this fic works 100% as a Royalty!AU  
> \- I've been writing these two for 80 chapters and writing smut for them gave me a sense of peace and closure I can't fully describe  
> \- I apologize in advance
> 
> enjoy!!! and don't sue me please

When Moon told him earlier this morning that she would do anything he asked for, Gladion had expected a few things. He had expected _himself_ to be sensical and tell her that they could rest tonight, that they could ditch the party she had planned for him a few floors below in the palace, and that maybe they could sleep; simply _not_ socialize tonight because really, all he wants is to have her for himself without the hurdles of being an Emperor in the middle.

But no, Gladion isn't sensical– or, at least, he hasn't been sensical for a few years.

Instead of all that, he jokingly tells Moon to prepare him a bath, and it takes her five solid minutes to arrange steaming waters with a surprisingly tactful and thoughtful arrangement of candles and perfumes added to the water. It smells like summer, spring, heaven, and flowers all in the same room.

She takes the joke a little too far when she gently – but firmly – pushes him into the wide bathroom, much more resembling a courtesan than the snarky woman he has for a wife.

As he lowers himself into the waters and she snickers, he's reminded once more of the true nature of this arrangement and turns to Moon with a gentle frown on his brow. "Remind me why I married you, please."

"As you said back then, 'because I make you happy', and I vividly recall you tripping with air after that." His frown deepens an inch, and she presses her elbows on the edge of the bathtub, right behind him. Her breath fans against his shoulder, his body twisted a little to look at her. "I think you also said something about me being the light of your life. Cheesy stuff."

"You burst out crying when I said that."

"Those were tears of laughter."

"You must have the weirdest laugh ever, considering you were _sobbing_."

"Don't be mean! That was a night full of emotions. And chocolate on my dress." His scowl softens to the ghost of a smile when she shakes her head, smiling too. Her cheek is pressed on her hand as she looks at him longingly. "I remember that night like it was yesterday. I think the dress still smells like chocolate."

Gladion chuckles. He really, _really_ wishes she wasn't behind him like that so he could get a glimpse of her full-on blissful expression, but maybe she's doing it on purpose to mess with him. "You're being too sweet tonight."

"Lillie told me I had to be a little sweeter tonight. Something about 'giving my loving husband a lovely night'. You know. Applying Hau-ish logic to us." Moon sounds skeptic, but presses a small kiss to his shoulder as though to emphasize that point. He's sure she's done it without realizing. "She's so innocent, even after all this time."

"I'm sure you're just being nice to compensate for the nightmare you guys have set up in the ballroom." Moon stifles a laugh, muffled on her palm. "It's _not_ funny."

After a lovely day of picnics and reckless rafting down an admittedly mild course – at least considering Moon's _insane_ standards – Lillie had sprung the news on him that they had set up a small birthday dance in honor of him, the Emperor, and then proceeded to usher Moon and Gladion into the palace to get ready after, in hindsight, a day too lovely to end well.

At least with Moon by his side, the night doesn't look that bad and his heart isn't racing as much– though, if it is, that's for an entirely different reason.

"You don't have to stay and dance all night, mister grumpypants." Moon pinches his cheek with her fingers. "It will mean a lot for Lillie if you just make an act of presence. Everyone in the Dominion knows you gotta polish the social part of your Empire."

"Lusamine was _never_ pleasant."

"And you pledged to be better than her. Case closed." His expression becomes sour, but she laughs it off like it's nothing. That sound can make all of his irritations melt. "Besides, I'm not gonna move from your side, unless somebody pushes me for a talk. Which you know I _love_."

A little chuckle vibrates in his chest. He curls an arm on the edge of the bathtub, then reaches for the hand under her cheek to press a kiss on her knuckles. While neither of them tends to indulge in these gestures of tenderness as a habit, they sometimes can't help themselves, especially when there's nobody around. Gladion never kisses Moon in public, and their affections end and begin behind closed doors.

She follows his kisses with incredulous yet affectionate eyes. "No kisses are gonna get you out of that ball, _darling_."

But both know he's not doing such a thing as an excuse, or to talk her out of this event. "I know. I'm sure somebody will pull you away later so I'm making the best of the time we have now." His thumb rubs over the surface he kisses, distracted. "I'm letting you off the hook just because you prepared this nice bath."

"C'mon, you're just _really_ soft today and you can't help yourself." She doesn't mock him for this, he knows; she's the first one to _never_ complain when he gets touchy like this. Arceus knows he's a little more reluctant other days. "If I knew a bath was the key to get my edgy husband sweet and candid, I would've done this way sooner."

His eyes flutter open to look at her. The air is slightly foggy with the steam as an intoxicating perfume wafts in the warm air, and when he lets her hand drop, he lifts his to her cheek, smirking. "There are other ways to get that done, you know."

Moon knowingly smirks, but a small giggle pushes past her lips. "Oh, really?"

Gladion leans closer. "Oh _really_."

He leans in, brushing his lips against hers slowly in a tender, gentle kiss, shifting to cup her neck as she chuckles breathily into the kiss. Her fingers curl around the edge of the bath, giving his lip a little nip before he breaks away, foreheads touching as she laughs nervously, much like she always does when he steals her breath away– it's a telltale sign that he has succeeded in his constant fixation with making her lose control.

"You know," he breathes, a tad hoarse. "You could join me here."

Their lips are barely a touch away. Moon purses her lips, eyes crinkled and impish. "In the bath?"

"Considering that's _exactly_ where I am right now, then yeah."

She rolls her eyes with a grin threatening to break through, but she, much to his surprise and inner disappointment, doesn't quite accept his offer. She's probably aware that if they end up naked in a small warm space, they won't be leaving the bath in a _very_ long time. Moon isn't one to reject such a suggestive plan like that, so he guesses she must have a motive to not indulge in some quality bath cuddling.

(And what might come after, of course– he will _never_ be against that.)

"That's tempting, but alas, I can't." Moon narrows her eyes and sinks them to his lips, bringing a hand to brush her thumb against it. "I gotta get all nice and dressed up for the dance. The Empress can't go around in her daily clothes for such an occasion."

His mouth twitches, nearly a smirk. "You have _never_ cared about those conventionalisms, Moon."

She huffs like she's offended. It's an absurdly cute look on a woman as dangerous as her. "Fine, Lillie heavily _advised_ me to dress up properly– you just had to tear down my acting like that." All the joking in her words drops abruptly when Gladion playfully bites the tip of her finger, and her voice suddenly turns glossy and sultry. "I also still gotta give you some more presents."

His stomach flips involuntarily. Gladion isn't sure if the warmth spreading across his body is part of the bathroom, if it's the air she carries with her or the smooth electricity overlapped with each syllable she says.

"Presents, huh?"

"A few of them." A whisper. Her is lip trapped between her teeth, making him itch to close the distance between them once more. "And for that, I gotta get dressed. I think Lillie left some stuff in my bedroom."

"I can't believe my wife isn't going to keep me company on my _birthday_." His voice is falsely indignant, further proved when he turns his lips to press a kiss on her pulse, making her shudder under his touch. "That's mean, you know."

"What's mean is tempting me like this when you _know_ I'd jump in headfirst if we had the time." Ah, there it is: the telling vibrato of her voice betraying a desire that her hooded eyes can't hide from him. "You should be thanking me that I'm being the smart one today. You've turned into a puddle and I can't believe it."

Granted, Gladion is rarely this affectionate. While he makes sure Moon knows of his feelings and his desires as often as possible, he's still slightly stunted when it comes to things like these. Moon has learned the ropes much faster than him, and as years had passed, she had educated them both in the art of loving and being loved, exploring their relationship one step at a time. He can now allow himself to kiss her when they're alone, to roam his hands around her body as he pleases because he knows she will be just as willing about it.

It's an impulse that doesn't come that often, only when they're alone like this– but he's never this adamant about it. The few times she teases him for a kiss in public he clams up and she laughs it off, both knowing it's a joke but both knowing it would be a little rude to start making out in the middle of a public place.

Because both know that they get wrapped in each other too quickly and what sometimes should be a little kiss has at times turned into very quick sessions of hair-tugging release in the corners of her academy, toe-curling touches in a spare room of the palace and heavy kissing in the rooftops of the palace.

That last instance only happened once.

And it had been _glorious_.

Gladion brushes a strand of hair off her face. "I guess I know I can do whatever I want without the risk of being teased about it. I know you won't be mean about it, I'm just…"

He knows he doesn't need to explain, and she doesn't want him to either. Both know of his shortcomings with affection, and Moon sees the conflict in his eyes and kisses it away, her lips on his tenderly, like a butterfly. He breathes her in, and then she pulls away a fraction of an inch, making him sigh.

"You know full well I'm _not_ gonna complain about you getting touchy and huggy with me. But I don't care anyway." A brilliant grin spreads on her lips. "I'll just dedicate my entire life to cuddling with you and dying _a little_ inside when you kiss me like that."

That's _perfect_ , just like they do things, and as her last words reach him, he's leaning in to kiss her again, gliding his lips on hers with just enough pressure to make a tiny blissful hum vibrate at the back of her throat. "Like this?"

A little peck, a second too long. "Like that, yeah."

"And you still don't want to join me? You make no sense sometimes, Moon."

Gladion tastes love and care in the way he says her name, and she must have noticed it too; her eyes twinkle under the dim candles and soft light of the room. The mirage slowly dissipates as she laughs a little, getting up from the bath before kissing the crown of his head just as lovingly.

"I'm gonna get dressed. I'll make sure to steal your breath away." Her voice drips with a meaning he doesn't quite catch, yet something husky and low in her voice makes him shiver all the same. "Don't stay in the water for too long or you'll turn into one of those ugly swordfishes we saw in Altaria Bay's aquarium."

"Swordfish?" He turns his body to place his chin on his hands, elbows on the bathtub as he watches her leave. "Is that because of my seemingly phenomenal edge?"

At the door, Moon winks at him and blows him a kiss. "And that's why I married you."

When she leaves, some warmth leaves him, but he lets the calming waters lull him into a nearly dazed state. Gladion lets himself sink a little deeper into the waters.

He's going to need the energy for the chaos that will ensue on the dancefloor later.

* * *

Much to his surprise, the party is fine. There's a handleable amount of people in the wide space, some of them dancing along to the music with twirls and swirls, and others chatting amicably alongside the skirts of the center of the room. No pirates make their big entrance with cannonballs and blades – though Guzma does make his presence known with his usual boisterous laugh, sporting a suit and a bottle of booze – there are no falls and no mess on the floor. The food is nice, the music is pleasant and people are amicable enough for him to be immersed, but not socially exhausted.

And then… there's Moon. Clad in a tight red and black dress, winking at him from a few feet away with a sultry smirk for what seems to be the umpteenth time tonight.

And it all began when she flashed him a small, tiny patch of the lacy tights she was wearing under her red and black dress. Slowly pushing the fabric of her dress to a side, eyes slightly narrowed, lip bitten.

Back when they began dating, Moon had discovered his… _fascination_ for her in red pretty quickly. He can't remember how or when, exactly, but knowing them, it had probably been in the stupidest ways imaginable. Ever since then, she had been relentless in teasing him about it, and he's perfectly aware that her wearing red anywhere on her body is far from a coincidence.

But he had never expected her to exploit his likings and preferences to this degree. In public. Letting him see just _a little_ bit of her legs, of the reddish tights with lace crawling up her calf. Letting him use his imagination when he's admittedly a little intoxicated. Letting him gulp and curse her.

She's making it look like an accident or mere convenience, but the little looks and gazes she's giving him constantly have the cup on his hand on the verge of shattering. Moon has always known how to crack his patience with the delicacy and efficacy of a craftsman.

He should have known Moon to be this indecent, even when she had been gentle and kind back in their bathroom. Maybe the stark contrast with her usual viperous self – much better represented in their current situation – had been foreshadowing enough.

She's so shameless.

Goddammit.

His stare is fixed on her, on the curves pressed nice and tight under her dress, undoubtedly tinted in colors for _his_ eyes to devour. There are sets of ribbons all over her dress, with a very tactical rip on the side that swishes sometimes to let her legs be seen – a part of her body that he has many times claimed to be his favorite part of her. The ribbons, though, are making his mind swirl out of focus, with the threads hanging so loose and tender that he _knows_ it'd take very little to make them come undone.

Gladion takes a tough, hard sip of champagne, closing his eyes to will the blur of wanton out of his body.

Hau, however, standing right by his side, can't be fooled. "Dude, you're gonna combust. What's gotten into–"

"Absolutely _nothing_." Gladion snaps, voice a thin rasp. "It's hot here. There's… too many people."

And Moon isn't looking at him anymore, which gives him a small brief moment to collect himself. Some people have stepped between him and her, thus her figure is no longer visible. He's sure she had been talking to Ilima moments before, so it's good she's not being given license to be any more cunning and that he can't be tortured anymore; Gladion would end up striding there and taking her to his room too early for his liking.

Gladion takes another sip. The more he drinks, the hotter his body feels, but the blurrier her figure is. Hau arches an eyebrow. "And is champagne gonna help your case? Like, this stuff is _good_ , but you've been staring at Moon for a _while_."

"She's my wife. Of course I'm going to stare at her."

"You're staring at her like you're gonna eat her alive, dude."

Gladion chokes with some of his champagne and has to lean back on a table close by to cough out the bubbles, cheeks severely blistered. " _Hau_!"

His hiss doesn't help his case; Hau grins, shoulders shaking with laughter. "What? You look like you're gonna rip each other's clothes off." He placidly takes a sip of his champagne, allowing the young Emperor to collect himself. "I know it's your birthday and all that, but you could get a room, dude."

Gladion sighs out, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to stave off the tension that was working itself into his body. When he chances a look behind him, though, he finds the strangers to have left and that Moon is on full view again, though no longer looking at him but Ilima as she chatters with him. He has hopes that if he ignores her, the evening will pass peacefully and he won't lose his composure.

With a strained sigh, he peels his eyes off his beautiful wife, eyes closed. Years of marriage haven't rusted her ability to drive him up a wall, it seems.

(Though the thought of literally driving her _against_ a wall is incredibly appetizing now.)

"I'm fine. She's just messing with me. You know her just like I do."

"I mean, I got no idea about your, uh, _marital_ activities and preferences, and I'm just here drinking some champagne." For a second, Gladion feels slightly guilty about Hau standing in the middle, but the sorcerer seems to be all sorts of amused by the situation. "Still got no clue what's gotten you so riled up. She's just talkin' to Ilima. Is your jelly jealousy acting up again?"

Oh, that's not it. Gladion is well over being tense and jittery about Moon and Ilima's friendship, or whenever the latter sends her flowers – a habit that still exists to this day. This isn't about who Moon is with, but the attitude she has carried to the gala like they're alone in the room, like this is one of their slow, loving nights where they can tear each other's clothes off and nobody is watching them.

He hates that she's making it work and that it's hard to hold himself back from acting out of his polite nature.

The red bows on her back are right in his vision now, and he wonders if that's on purpose; his question is answered when she reaches back and gives the bow a barely unnoticeable tug, making the bow shrink and slowly come undone but it _doesn't_ , and simply hangs there, loose, revealing a pale patch of skin right below her neck.

His burning stare remains on her body as she sways to a side a little, and the fabric of her dress moves to give him a taste of the lace climbing up her ankle, and the red heels she's wearing. _Goddammit,_ he forgot about those heels, the ones she knows he's always quietly following. They make her legs even better, if possible, and never fail to get him tense and rigid.

Her moves are slow but unnoticeable to the untrained eye, would pass as just her shifting in her feet; but Gladion knows better. His eyes, bright and at attention, follow her movements, fully aware that they are for him to enjoy. Moon is smooth in the battlefield, erratic out of it, and smooth and cunning when she wants to torture him.

When Ilima is distracted for a second, her head turns to look at him, exactly as a waiter passes by and Hau is distracted with pastries. She takes a sip of the crimson beverage on her hands, slow and languid, and a small bead trails down her lips to her jaw, where she wipes the residue away with an impish gaze, heated and heavy, licking her lips teasingly.

Gladion swallows a gulp, taking a sip of his own with unmoving eyes, and when she's done, she gives her own lower lip a tender bite. From the swelling of her chest and the way her eyes seem to _glow_ , she's sighing out and biting harder. He can nearly hear the sound from where he stands, among the music, and a long shudder runs down his spine.

She brings a finger to her lips, biting on the tip gently under Gladion's widening stare, and Moon turns once more and he breathes out again, as though that will diminish the unholy tension all over his muscles.

Gladion off-handedly thanks his loose clothes for _any_ accidental reactions she might get out of his body; that would be scandalous.

But she _loves_ a good scandal. And he's stupid enough to love that side of her.

Hau, blissfully ignorant of his friend's sudden stiffness, bites into a pastry. "I hope I get to dance with Lillie later. We've been so busy lately we got no time to go to Wicke's fancy charity dances. Lillie is a _great_ dancer – wait, and I think Moon is too, right?"

She's an even better dancer when they're alone in his room and he _really_ should head outside for some fresh air. "Yes. She is."

"Ain't you gonna dance with her? Maybe she's shooting ya' those looks because she wants some dancing with her hubby." Gladion can only exhale in response, eyes preened on Moon as Ilima bids her farewell. At the same time, Hau gasps. "Oh, there she is! I'm gonna catch up with her, I'll see ya later!"

And Hau dashes away into the crowd around him, all of them oblivious to how Gladion is looking at Moon now. If his gaze had been partially and uselessly watered down for the sake of decency, it has now turned into boiling and unhinged anger and _desire_ , one that Moon catches eagerly as she turns to him now, body swaying naturally and eyes sultry with mischief.

Moon saunters closer, but Gladion impatiently closes the distance with long strides. "I'm going to _kill_ you."

"Good evening to you too." And his wife smirks, arms folded knowingly. "Someone's a lil' heated."

Arceus, she's perfectly aware of what she's doing to him. Moon is the only woman in this universe that can pull at his strings this way, get away with it, and send even more warmth throughout his entire body. Their bodies are a hair's width away. She smells of jasmine and something rainy, eyes thin and irises bright.

Her cheeks are splashed with pink desire and her lips, of course, are painted red. His left hand twitches to pull her closer; he doesn't let her win. "What are you planning? Because it's working and I _hate_ it."

"Oh, do you?" Moon places a hand on his chest, fingers curling against the fabric. On her heels, she has little to no need to tiptoe, but she does anyway, leaning to his ear with a smirk. "You look a little more than bothered, _mon chéri_."

She gives his ear a small nip, causing him to groan _very_ faintly. Her Kalosian accent is like a drug: it intensifies whatever he's feeling at the moment to an unbearable crescendo, and tonight is no different. Her breath fans against his neck as she sinks to her feet again.

His body releases an involuntary shiver, at which she smiles a little wider. Whenever she's hellbent on getting a reaction out of him – especially in situations like this – she _never_ fails.

Gladion lets out her name in a threatening growl that somehow pushes her to act even further. Bringing her hand up, she trails a finger down his jaw, eyes never parting from his. "I told you I'd give you some gifts tonight. I'm just giving you one of them, _darling_."

Oh. _Oh_.

"How does causing public indecency in the middle of an event count as a gift?"

"Hmm, I don't know. You tell me." Eyes glistening and gaze scorching, their noses brush. Her hand on his chest sinks its nails into the fabric. "You seem to be enjoying yourself a lot, _Gladion_."

Her saying his name like _that_ has no right to sound as enticing as it does. To put more fuel to the fire, their lips brush just lightly, and her sinful tongue grazes his parted lips, dragging a very impatient growl out of him that makes her eyes sparkle in delight. If he were to be indecent and throw his composure out the window he would be pushing her close and slamming her on the closest table – which is conveniently behind them.

But he holds his posture taut, eyeing her intensely as she tilts her head. "What's up? Is the Emperor of the Aedus turned on?"

Her leg grazes him in his tightness, subtle like the assassin she is. Her eyes widen a very small inch, as though surprised she's gotten such an obvious answer. Gladion breathes in, shaky, taking in how her expression turns even more naughty. "You're driving me _insane_ , that's what."

"That can't be. Our dear Emperor can't lose his composure like that, can he?" Moon trails a finger along the width of his lower lip, staring. Burning. Making him ache for her even more. "It's a shame we can't do anything about that… the stoic Emperor has to be poised at all times, hm? What a pity..."

Moon snickers under her breath. She's such a fucking _tease_.

She swipes her tongue across her lips, making them glisten under the lights. His surroundings are becoming blurry, her touch the only thing he feels, with the music being distorted and his clothes and _hers_ seeming too heavy to wear. From here he can see something red looped around her shoulder, and he wonders with a pounding heartbeat if she could be wearing all red _under the dress_.

And right as he's about to throw it all out the window and kiss her senseless, her touch disappears and she's backing off, returning to her usual self– leaving him bothered, sweat sheened on his neck and eyes wide. "You're doing great! Keep up the good work!"

And she tops it all with a wink, biting her lip as she stalks away into the crowd– but there's a very telling sway to her step and a very telling blush on her cheeks that says that he's not the only wrecked one, that if she has dragged him down, then she's about to drag herself down as well.

His stomach swells as a wave of heat ripples throughout his entire body, thinking of what else she could have saved for tonight.

If she's about to try and tug at the strings, then he will fight her for it.

When she reaches Ilima again, she turns her head to see him smirking, eyes lit with _something_ that causes her to visibly shake. Ilima is right beside her talking about something that she's paying little to no attention to, Gladion knows– Moon has never been known for her multitasking abilities, and when her husband is looking at her like _that_ , Gladion knows he has won the game.

He takes a very patient sip of wine, rolling his shoulders a little to make himself loose, and Moon follows his moves with keen attention. Her eyes trail down his visage to his neck, and then his shoulders, his arms, his suit, and he sees interest and blaze erupt in her eyes.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say she's merely interested in the attire and that she _definitely_ doesn't want to rip his clothes off as much as he wants to tear hers apart.

Slowly, Gladion brings a hand to his neck and loosens the collar of his shirt a little. His fingers drag down to pop a small button off his shirt, and her eyes widen to a lovely size of surprise and shock; she surely hadn't expected him to play along, and Moon has never looked this fascinated and utterly _heated_.

When Ilima turns to a side to comment whatever about the wine, Gladion smirks. "Like what you see?" he mouths to her, slowly, in the distance, with law-abiding citizens dancing about as Moon gulps visibly.

Moon has always had this habit of tearing most of the shirts he owns; not because she's impatient, but because she knows damn well he loves the eagerness just as much as she loves his. They're just as wild in the bedroom as they are on the battlefield. This kind of subtle very inappropriate flirting is merely a teaser of what he knows is to come.

Keeping their eyes connected, her chest swells as she takes in a shuddering breath, and he tilts his head in a tease as his smirk widens.

And then, she smirks just as cunning, taking a sip of her drink with a mischievous twinkle that sends a thrill down his back.

The spell is only broken when Ilima puts his hand on her hip, startling both of them into confusion. Ilima pulls her a little closer, saying something about 'dance' and 'slow' that Gladion can barely discern in his bothered state, but Moon isn't pushing his hand off or waving him off in favor of her husband's slow seduction.

In fact, she slants her hand over Ilima's on her hip, and then reaches behind her neck to loosen one of the bows; and both actions are right in his direct sight, tunneled into focused desire.

Ilima's hand is curled around the fabric of her hip and for one second, Gladion can feel the fabric under his own fingertips: soft, warm to the fingers, carefully knit for him to strip off from her. She laughs at something Ilima says, more haughty than pleased, and Gladion has to physically restrain himself from stomping over there to put an end to this nonsense.

Moon cranes her head to him, slow and luscious, with some hairs out of place but her eyes aimed only at him. She flashes him a playful wink and licks her upper lip, then turns to Ilima to slowly drag his hand up her waist, tempting and slow.

She's doing it on purpose.

Ilima's fingertips graze the opening of her dress behind her and his thin patience _shatters_ completely. Gladion all but delicately _slams_ the cup on the nearby table and strides over to them, startling Ilima as he immediately lets go of Moon and the latter's posture straightens with the mere prospect of his presence. He'd be lying if he said that's not _incredibly_ pleasant.

Gladion clears his throat as though Moon's reaction hadn't been telling enough of his presence in her mind. Ilima waves at Gladion amicably. "It's good to see you. I thought I wouldn't get to see you tonight, your Majesty."

He clears his throat again. "You know full well you don't have to call me that."

In front of him, Moon rolls her eyes, smirking. "Oh, _please_. You love people calling you that." Her fingertips graze the underside of his chin, chiding and cute. The tease still lingers, though, and her voice is breathy and bright. "Besides, it's not like I–"

A squeak interrupts her words, which happens to escape her as his hand subtly flattens on her the small of her back, where the warmth of his palm has sent a _very_ telling shudder up her body. Gladion accepts a glass of water from a passing waiter and drowns his smirk as she trembles under his hold.

This leaves Ilima to arch an eyebrow at the sudden change in her expression, now dusted with pink, eyes wide and disbelieving and looking at nowhere in particular. "Are you feeling okay, Moon? You're looking fairly indigested."

"She's having a rough night," Gladion says, as eloquent as possible and pretending that the look she's now giving him isn't raising his ego to heaven and beyond. "Perks of being famous and everyone wanting you." His green eyes sink to his wife, whose eyes are borderline murderous but also incredibly burning. "Isn't that right?"

Moon doesn't miss the double meaning of his words and sucks in a sharp breath. His fingertips sink into the fabric of her dress, something that anybody would pass as simple affection that now has her squirming, something he _never_ thought Moon to be capable of.

Her posture rebuilds itself quickly as she sighs in and recovers the bite in her words, looking at him as she takes a large gulp of wine. "I don't know, my _lord_. You're making things _very_ hard for yourself tonight."

His back stiffens as her eyes darken, recovering the upper hand as a low growl issues from his throat, but before his hand can migrate south to where they can no longer deny the electric air around them, Ilima clears his throat.

"I, uh, will see myself out, if you don't mind." The enraptured couple swing their eyes to the clearly uncomfortable Captain, who is shuffling into the crowd. "Please, do have a good night. I think I shall go look for someone else to dance with."

Moon, likely wanting to continue her charade, tries to urge him back, is about to take a step to stop him before something yanks her back and against Gladion's chest; his fingers are curled around one of the bows of her dress, which has come undone between his digits and has made them both painfully aware that part of her dress is open now.

"Provoking me using Ilima is a bad look on you, Moon," he murmurs into her ear, keeping the bow in his hand, "especially when you're no better than me."

Knowingly, Moon turns around to face him, and he carefully keeps his hand on her lower back so absolutely nobody can see what lies beyond her dress. His fingers catch the feeling of lace where the dress is open, her skin is warm and everything about her is boiling in his eyes. When her gray eyes gaze into his green ones, the color is saturated in pure desire, smirking and pressing a hand on his abdomen.

"You're the one who had issues with Ilima wanting to dance, my _lord_ ," she drawls, digging her nails into his shirt and dragging them down to where he hisses, fingers curling around the belt of his pants. The way she talks to him is like music and honey to his ears. "And you just got my dress undone. What are we gonna do about that now?"

"I can just tie it back," he whispers, challenging her as he slips his digits further into the opening of her dress, feeling the shape of her lower back. Moon bites back a hiss of sensation.

"Would you really do that?" Her breath fans on his lips now, tiptoeing close to him. Her eyes dart from his eyes to his cheek, to his nose, and then… "You seem to be enjoying yourself a lot, _darling_."

The hand on her belt pulls him close to where their bodies brush and she slips a hand under his shirt, raking her nails down the skin she finds along with deft caresses of her fingertips, and she reaches to take a soft nip of his lower lip. Heat and tightness have pooled down at his abdomen, inching anywhere she touches, making of her touch pleasant, scorching fire.

It has reached a point where Gladion is blissfully thankful for the number of people gathered in the ballroom, where nobody can see his wife touching him like this and how much he's loving her teasing.

And nobody is seeing the dangerous, predatory gaze in his eyes, either; when Moon catches it, a delightful shiver runs down under his fingertips. "You're treading into dangerous territory, Moon."

He says his name without a voice, just a growl, and she relishes on that. "We can always sort things out somewhere else…" A small, pure evil laugh. It fans on his lips and makes warmth work itself through his body. "I have some things to show you that your Majesty may enjoy."

Gladion only loves being called that when it's _her_ saying it, so deliciously slow and tender he might as well melt; instead of that, Gladion's free hand takes hold of her hip to where she can feel him fully, lips brushing, eliciting a small gasp out of her that he feels on his lips.

His eyes glint. "We're leaving."

Seizing victory as hers, smirking, Moon tilts her head in faux confusion. "Oh? What about the dance?"

His next words are a pure bite of lust and heat. " _Screw the dance_. You're coming with me."

A bite of her lip. A sharp breath of anticipation. "Now?"

A growl. " _Now_."

* * *

Considering how big the palace is, it's an absolute miracle they make it to the room in one piece. Gladion had been in a complete rush to get to his bedroom, taking no detours and flashing past the empty hallways, up the staircase and to the familiarity of his bedroom's wing before he, lacking all delicacy in the loneliness of the night, pushes her against a wall and starts kissing her senseless.

His hands roam _everywhere_ his heart desires, and she writhes in response as she, eager and impatient as she is, starts undoing the first buttons of his shirt to flatten her palms on his chest, aching to sink further down as his tongue brushes with hers and he swallows the little moans she lets out. He fumbles with her dress, burning to feel more of her curves, more of her skin, drown in her voice and in the feeling that is just _her_.

Between heated kisses, he curls her legs around his hips and he smashes her on the wall, making her laugh shakily into the kiss. "You're so shameless."

When he breaks the kiss, he's panting heavily and his eyes are lost in hers, focused in an almost glare that has her biting her lip in enthusiasm. "You've been teasing me all night, you better believe I'm not going to hold back."

" _Good_ ," she says, shaky and breathy, grinding her hips against his as one of her hands tug at his hair, making him groan and tremble.

It's incredible how warm she is in his arms, pressed against a wall in a way that he wonders if it hurts, considering he's having no qualms to touch her to his enjoyment and torture her in the process. He catches the movement of her hips and grabs her to still her, though the little writhing of her body against his makes him nearly _whine_ in need.

His palms, warm and seeking, trace the shape of her legs beyond the dress, catching the fabric of her tights that he knows to be red, and the image alone makes him groan, her teeth nibbling on his lip as she breaks the kiss to pepper his neck with kisses.

When she has left a sizeable hickey on the base of his neck and his knees wobble _once_ , Gladion gasps out, eyes swirling out of focus as he loses himself in her warmth and touch. "If somebody catches us making out, we'll get in trouble."

"Then take me to the bedroom already, slowpoke," she gasps against him, just as breathless as him. Her head lifts from his neck to his ear, tracing the shape with the tip of her tongue. The little moan that ripples from his chest is shameful at best. "It's not like you're not getting turned on by–"

Before Moon can say anything else and shame him for his thrill, he crashes his lips with hers again and pushes her further into the wall. She tightens her grip on his hair to push him impossibly closer, where she no longer needs his arms to support herself and he can push his hands wherever he wants them to be.

The possibility of stripping her down in the middle of the hallway comes to mind, but he knows neither of them will have the strength to come back here to pick their clothes up after everything that is about to ensue in his bed.

He, however, sneaks a hand into the opening of her dress to feel her warm skin just as she pushes her shaky hands between them, undoing the last buttons of his shirt as his fingers inch to her thighs, curling inwards to the apex of her thigh, brushing the underwear that he hasn't yet gotten to see, moving even closer until–

" _Aah_ ," she whimpers into his shoulder, moving erratically in his arms. Just as his pants are getting tight in arousal, her center has become slick and notably warm. Alarmingly so. She proceeds to make of this statement a fact as she grinds her hips against his fingers. "You're teasing me…"

Realizing that it's been enough and that touching her any further in the middle of the hallway is _not_ in his plans, he hoists her off the wall and tumbles against the door, her legs untangling from his hips and gracefully landing on the floor as her arms curl around his neck and she kisses him again, moaning as he pushes her through the doors.

The two stumble into the bedroom and Gladion is already working on removing her clothes, kicking the doors close behind him impatiently as she giggles, breathily breaking the kiss as she pushes his sleeves off his shoulders. "Someone's getting impatient."

"Somebody's getting bothered," he teases back, knowing that he's no better. He shrugs off the shirt and throws it somewhere deep into the room, taking no time to push her into a frenzied kiss, hands burning on her waist.

When Moon had promised to give him presents today, Gladion had been mildly aware of what she meant; he hadn't expected this intensity, however, this _impatience_ and anticipation. Moon has always loved playing cat and mouse, and tonight had been an excellent instance of that game; the one where she teases and he chases her until he's pressing her against his closet – which has become hers at this point, as most of the clothes she wears at night are his – and grabbing fistfuls of her hair as he devours her.

His free hand works on undoing the bows on the back, but he makes sure to leave a few out to delight himself with the view later– he might be insanely turned on right now, but he's a man of culture and he will relish on the view of her dress coming undone later.

When she's not moaning like this and kissing him like he's the only air she can breathe.

His hands roam around her back, where he finds thinner, delicate bows and small stripes, undoubtedly from something that she's wearing and that she doesn't want him to see, for she's pushing his hand out of there and breaking the kiss with a teasing lick. "You're gonna have to ask nicely to see what's underneath, my lord."

She knows it drives him insane when she calls him that but she still tortures him like this. Gladion groans. "Isn't it supposed to be my birthday?"

"Oh, and it is. A man of royalty can't forget about manners like that, though…" Smirking, she drags her hands down his bare chest, mindful to graze the taut nipples under her touch. "I'm gonna make you feel good, darling. Don't worry about that."

Making use of the extraordinary strength she possesses, she easily peels herself off the doors of his closet and pushes him backward, lips touching and her hands doing quick work with his hair, raking at his scalp and twirling her tongue around his in a maddening tango for dominance.

The back of his knees hit the bed, and she lands right on top of him, sprawled over him and with moonlight washing over her mostly bare back, sans for the bows that keep her dress together, modestly so. Her legs encase his body on the bed, soft and wrapped around his hips as she pushes him into the mattress, into the soft duvets that make her touch even more melting.

Moon's lips trail down his jaw, down to his neck, pressing kisses where she knows will hurt best. If there's something she had learned to take advantage of is the exact places where he's the most sensitive, and she's hitting the exact spots; she's not cutting corners tonight.

"You won't go… easy on me, huh?"

An airy chuckle hits his shoulder. "When have I ever gone easy on you?"

That's a very fair argument that shuts him up, and he takes no time to bring her head up so he can kiss her again. Her perfume is intoxicating him, and it feels like it's _everywhere_ around him; in fact, she's everywhere around him, mouths locked into a searing kiss that is all violent as it is passionate, lips meeting and interlocking with bites and sinful touches thrown into the mix. Her hands touch everywhere around him, shaky but expert after years of doing this, one of them sinking further down, brushing the hem of his pants–

His hands roam up her legs and her bottom, making her sigh and break the kiss to breathe as he busies himself with her neck, caressing the warm skin as he sucks a bright mark on her throat. If she touches him any further, things will be over shamefully fast.

A long throaty moan escapes her. "Gladion…"

And _that_ is the exact note that tells him he's got her right where he wants her.

Gladion takes advantage of her weakness and tackles her to the mattress, now, digging her figure further into the bed. He makes quick work of the small buttons of the front of her dress – how many bows and buttons can a dress have? – and decides to snap them open instead, with some of them popping out of the fabric.

That's a shame because it's a beautiful dress, but it's also _not_ a shame because it's hiding something much prettier underneath.

Gladion breaks the kiss to look at her. Her hair is a halo around her head, sprawled on the mattress as her half-lidded eyes peer up at him, dazed, just as vulnerable as him. She bites her lip as she catches his gaze, telling him all the words of reassurance and love that she's got in her heart yet will never dare say.

They don't need to speak to know how they feel, what they need.

Gladion kisses her again, much like a dying man looking for water, and opens the front of her dress first. There is a teasing bow on her hip over her stomach, the one that holds the dress together. The other bows have likely come undone after his aggressive touches, so this is the only barrier standing between him and her.

Their lips part for a second. When he looks at Moon again, she's looking to her side, as though she's bashful. "I… I'm a little stupid."

Confusion crosses his lidded eyes, lost in the sea of heavy lust painted in the green color. His hand absent-mindedly plays with the bow, conflicted. "As in?"

"You're gonna think I'm silly."

"If there's a moment to think you're silly, it's any time but _now_."

And he kisses her cheek, then her ear and her neck, and all sweetness in his voice is immediately camouflaged by his touches and her breathy gasps, one hand on the pillow under her head and another on his head, keeping him in place while he slowly unties the bow.

When the bow is about to give up, he breaks off from her and their eyes lock for one instant; it's as if this moment is important for her, or that it should be for him, and she nods with a shaky giggle and a bitten lip between her teeth. If he weren't so focused on whatever lies under her dress, he'd kiss her insane again.

Instead, Gladion tenderly parts the dress open until the fabric lies limply at her sides. The sight that greets him leaves him speechless, heart racing at the swirling colors that greet him; red, burgundy, scarlet, crimson, cherry, chili, sun-kissed and blood-burning shades color the intricate fabric of her underwear, which frames her delicious body into a treat for his eyes that has him short of breath and acutely mindful of the goosebumps his touch has left on her skin.

Gladion becomes abruptly aware that his pants are painfully _tight_. Eyes wide, speechless, he gazes at her in both questioning and adoration.

As reluctant as always in intimate scenarios like these, Moon buries her cheek on the pillow. "I thought that um… I know you got a thing with this color, so…" Much to his disgrace and doom, she twirls the strap of her lacy brassiere around her finger. "I thought you'd want me like thi–"

He doesn't let her finish. He kisses her much faster than before, with much more intent as his cheeks blister in an embarrassing color that matches her sinful attire. She had looked like a present with all those bows attached to her dress, and it's no wonder it had been that way; this is one of the few times he doesn't want to tear her underwear off. It looks too good on her.

Most of the time, she would wear disposable underwear that they could take the liberty of breaking. Granted, Moon isn't a fan of having her garments torn apart, much like he doesn't like having to pick up the buttons she tears off his shirts, but they have an inexplicable tendency to be a little wilder in this area.

Not to mention that both are very strong and they're well aware that it turns each other on to be this violent, in more ways than one. It wouldn't be the first time they have been training in the academy's grounds and they have ended up slicing more fabric than they'd like.

His hand roams down her leg, his other grabbing the back of her head to twist her into a deeper kiss, keenly aware of how her body turns into an arch to meet his, sharply breathing through her nose. Teeth gritted, Gladion separates himself to look at her, bothered and cheeks completely stained red.

"You don't know what you do to me when you do things like these," he grumbles, wrecked, and already halfway into euphoria. "Goddammit."

Her hands reach for his neck, pushing him down again. "I gotta make the birthday boy feel good, don't I?" She teases, fingers sliding down his chest. "You look like you could use some– _ah_!"

Unaware of his true intentions, she failed to see his hand moving first, rubbing slowly on the fabric of her underwear to where her wetness meets the red fabric. A hissed moan she tries to bite back escapes her, one that he doesn't hesitate to bring back to life with another rub, another tease.

"If you want me to have fun," he bites, smirking into her neck as he licks a long stripe to her ear, whispering, "you'll have to let me have fun with _you_. You're not going to leave tonight scot-free."

A gulp falls down her throat. He follows the swallow with bright attention, losing himself into images and thoughts and heated flashes of feeling and memory, his focus dwindling until she moans again and he focuses once more. His digits press into her wetness softly, mildly amused at her writhing hips and how, unlike other nights, she's not fighting the pleasure back.

His name comes out in a long, pained gasp. "You're just as bad as I am," she gasps out, biting her lip. A smirk wobbles into her dazed visage. "And if you're gonna touch me, then you should do it right, you pretentious little–"

His lips silence her, frowning as she laughs but responds all the same, pulling a sigh out of him. He wastes no time in grabbing the sides of her panties with his fingers, pulling them down her slender legs to fully press his long fingers against her wet core– she gasps, chasing the touch with uncanny apprehension.

Amused yet entranced, Gladion comments on this. "You're sensitive tonight, aren't you?"

"If you thought you were the only one turned on earlier– _ah_ ," she bites another moan back, and his touch turns a little harsher in retaliation, seeking those sounds. "You're wrong, mister."

His pride comes up like a sword. "I don't have it that– _ah_."

Her hand sneaks between his legs to palm him, moving to the rhythm of his touches, making his whole body vibrate in colors and intensity and feeling and sensation, but before he can lose himself in the well of goo and ecstasy pooling in his stomach, he grabs her hand and pushes it beside her head, refusing to let her move any further than he wants her to.

"Keep your hands to yourself," he mutters between strokes of his fingers on her folds, feeling himself grow harder as she twists against his incessant rubbing. "Let me have some fun."

Heavy breathing pants escape her, close to whines as he kisses her, then her neck, her jaw, her shoulder, never daring to go any further because he takes great pleasure in seeing her suffer and thrash like this. Outside scenarios like these, Moon is an overpowered, confident little shit that he has undoubtedly come to adore and love like mad, and the twists of her face and the ruined, blissful faces she makes when he teases her make his toes curl.

She will always fight him; they will always fight, even in bed, but he loves the defiance and she loves the torture, the tease. Moon could very well put up a fight and fuck him senseless, but she appreciates the delicacy and the lurching of her stomach as much as she appreciates him.

He runs a hand over her, stronger this time, intense and seeking her demise. A breathless cry erupts past her throat. " _Gladionnnn_ … stop teasing me..."

"You sound like you're having fun, though," he says, just as gravelly and breathless as her, but pretending to be fine for the sake of keeping his power in check. "You're so _wet_."

The accusation makes her grind quicker against his hand, but before she can taste the victory of taking the lead, Gladion growls and slowly pushes a digit into her; and she's tight, so much so his body shivers in anticipation.

"Holy _shit_ ," Moon breathes into the air, body trembling under his tender yet burning caresses. She's writhing and shaking on her own accord, and he doubts she's doing it on purpose. The wanton on her eyes is so _primal_ and raw it makes him even warmer than before. "Fas– Faster…"

His fingers press deeper into her, curling to hit a spot he knows by experience she adores, and her legs twitch and she gasps, swallowing a mouthful of air before letting it out in a long, high-pitched moan as he goes a little faster, then a little more, making her move against the mattress as the bed creaks under them. Lost in his desire and her little sounds and long moans, his grip on her hand begins to loosen, but then firmly tightens as her walls squeeze his digits.

An image is planted in his head, one of him filling her up with something much harder, something he's aware to be throbbing in his pants. If he had one last of his wits left, then he would tease her a little further, but his daze and her twisted expressions are making something tight and pleasing squeeze his stomach in ways that make him shake and touch her even more.

It's a cycle that never ends, and as she tries to push her face away in inertia to muffle her screams and further into the mattress, her hips chasing his fingers in a steady pace, he turns her head to him to where he can kiss her, sneaking his tongue to dance with hers as she squeals and gasps and cries into his warm kisses and heavy touch.

She might be the toughest person he knows, but only he can strum her to this twisted mess.

He hits the spot again, again, and curls his fingers inside of her as he inserts another one, working her higher and higher until she can no longer hide her pleasure, body shrinking and tightening under his hands as her legs part further open, twitching and shaking as he ravishes her with his fingers.

He kisses down her throat when she shies away, expression mercilessly ashamed and pained in her ecstasy, pursing her lips before a warning escapes her, wobbly and glass-fragile. She throws her back a little, giving him access to suck a mark on her collarbone. "I'm… I'm not gonna last for much longer, my… my…!"

"Say it, Moon," Gladion growls out, more sensual than menacing, teeth gracing the skin under her ear. "Call me by who I am, Moon. Call me your _Emperor_."

"You're so pet– _ah_!" He hits the spot again, curling his fingers in punishment and going even faster than before. Her body curls in anticipation for what's to come, and her eyes, lost in a sea of white and stars, screw shut as her jaw tightens. "I'm… I can't–!"

It takes her one exact second to reach her release and let out one long moan, all the tension in her body leaving her abruptly in one long wave of pleasure that makes her gasp and tremble in his hold, eyebrows knit as she chases the feeling of his fingers working her through it all; he kisses her neck lovingly, catching the throbbing of her pulse and the heaving of her chest as she comes down from her high.

When Gladion looks at her again, her eyes are momentarily unfocused, but his asking gaze pulls her right back. A shaky smile curls her lips. "I… I had some pent-up excitement for tonight." Her eyes trail down his face, down his swelling chest and down to where his pants hang. "And I can tell somebody I know very well is _pretty_ excited, too."

A small chuckle blows past his lips. Gladion leans down to press a single kiss on her swollen lips. His heart nearly bursts when she sighs in bliss, completely boneless. "That can wait. I want to–"

But this time, she silences him, a palm over his lips. "Do you think you're gonna leave scot-free after teasing me? Oh _no_ , my lord."

Licking her lips in mischief, it takes her one single shove to push him under her. When Gladion looks up at her, she's towering over him like she has done a thousand times, but this time it's different: there is no ground under them, no blood, and no weapons other than each other's need to drive the other past the edge. The view of Moon on top of him is _always_ pleasing all the same, and it's not like he's about to start complaining about her taking the reins when she's looking at him like _that_.

With a smirk more befitting of a demon and not somebody as wonderfully stubborn as her, she reaches behind her, inviting him to help with a wink. "Care to help me get this off?"

Eager, Gladion sits up, hands on her hips as he does _anything_ but help, kissing down her neck and all over her collarbone; when the bra comes off and she finally discards it – it's a miracle he hasn't found his strength and torn it off himself – he takes one of her mounds into his mouth, twirling the taut nipple with his tongue to make her shudder again, losing himself in her body curving against his.

If he weren't eager to find what she's got in store for him, he would tackle her into the bed again and do with her as he pleases, but she soon finds his touch to be too bothersome, maybe, and tugs his hair to bring his face up to hers. "Getting touchy?"

Smirking, Gladion's response is to take her other bundle between his lips, brushing it with his tongue until she's moaning, little notes escaping her body and filling the bedroom. Moon throws her head back as his lips travel upwards again, a small fit of giggles greeting his ears as he sucks on the base of her neck with more softness than intention.

Hands on his shoulders, she pushes him back; all she's wearing now is the red stockings that Gladion knows for sure will haunt his dreams for nights to come. Her nose nudges his. "That's better. You weren't this submissive when we got married."

Her surprise brings him to smugness, caressing her hip as she sits on him. "I'm kind of excited to see what you want to do to the birthday boy and I'm fully aware you would have made me lie down one way or another."

They melt into a kiss after that, delicate but turning naughty when she swipes the rim of his lip with her tongue. His body arches against his own will. "Good to know you're aware of that, darling."

She begins to sink down, then, legs retreating further down into the mattress, sliding over his while he commits the sight to memory for the umpteenth time. Her kisses travel the distance between his lips and chest, pressing kisses and small bites where she deems fit. A bit further, and she sucks a small mark on his stomach, and a little further–

His eyes widen. _Oh_.

"Wait," he raises a hand, reaching for her head. "You don't need–"

Her hand flashes to his wrist and she pushes it to the bed, eyes flaring with a warning that has nothing to envy from a lion. "Hands to yourself, _darling_."

Gladion both loves it when she gets sassy and bossy, but _loathes_ when his teasing comes back to him in full swing. It's not like this treatment and dominance between one another is new, so he should have seen it coming– how is he supposed to do that when he has _her_ sprawled over him like this, though?

Her deft hands undo his belt and then unzip his pants.

Well, fuck. This is about to get very embarrassing.

It's not like Moon doesn't know about how eager he is about being intimate with her, Arceus forbid. Gladion is fully devoted to satisfying her in bed just as much as she satisfies him, so these things are to be expected.

Tonight is a very different night, though; not in the sense that it's any more spectacular than it usually is, but things are more like wildfire between them and not a pacted need for them to do things like these.

So to say he's _incredibly, undeniably_ and embarrassingly hard is an understatement.

When Moon pulls his pants down, there's a little bit of surprise in her eyes, but it soon turns into teasing that he damns himself for. "I knew that thing I felt in the ballroom wasn't just your leg."

Gladion's teeth grit in embarrassment. He knows she's not mocking him, of course not, but his pride as an Emperor is one of the few things nobody but _her_ should ever cross. "Don't say it like– _fuck_."

Her warm lips wrap around him, her other hand caressing his calf as she toys with him with a teasing look on her face that does terrible things to his heart. Her tongue teases the ridge under his tip, gently tracing it at a pace just as torturous as his had been before. Her hands massage whatever skin her mouth hasn't taken, her tongue caressing the skin there in ways that make him twist and groan in ways too embarrassing to say out loud.

His hand enmeshes into her disheveled hair, messing with her locks even further to emphasize his approval of her touch. She's always been a little hesitant to touch him, but he's glad she has no qualms on the matter tonight. It's like she's empowered by the little pulls on her hair, breathing into him as she worships every patch of skin she finds.

A breathless gasp leaves his body as she takes him a little deeper. The noise he makes is ungraceful, he knows. "I… you're going to finish me off too quickly…"

Which has never been a problem for her in the past, and neither has it been for him. Knowing her, she will find a way to keep him skirting around the edge until he's spent and begging for it, which her enticing eyes are provoking with that subtle, evil glint in her dark irises.

She releases him while still handling him, gazing at him while giving his shaft a long, long lap from the base up, stringing his body up into an arch. "Would that be an issue?"

"You know damn well I…" his hips jerk as she takes him in again, warm and familiar, eyes peering into his with the audacity of a viper and the ferocity of a panther. Each inch of her tongue and hand sends immeasurable thrills up his body, all the way to his fingertips and deep into his stomach, where a familiar coiling sensation is building itself up to absolute madness.

She's relentless in her assault, making him grab her hair harder. He wants to scold himself for being so harsh on her hair, but his body is fully disagreeing with any rational thoughts that could occur to him, finding her ministrations too pleasurable for his weak state of mind to bear. He bites his lip in anticipation, shrunken in rapture as she goes a tidbit faster, and it takes him a gigantic effort to not sink her further to increase the friction, to send him soaring, but–

Making use of whatever patience and wit he has left, Gladion tugs at her hair so she releases him, terribly aware of his pulsing length in her hands. "If I'm going to come, then I'll do it with you on _top_."

Her eyes widen like saucers at his declaration, made between pants and ragged breathing, but true nonetheless. He wonders for a split second if she will bend down to his wishes or if she will dismiss him to take him in again – a decision he wouldn't mind, seeing how things were going just a second ago – only to prove him wrong as she lets him go and climbs up his body, slow and tender.

When she's right on top of him, Gladion realizes her breathing is just as destroyed as his, and that a very powerful and delightful scent is surrounding them like a dim fog. "Only if you pull on my hair like that again."

Gladion had nearly expected a negative on that regard, but he finds himself chuckling. "We can work on that later."

The promise for more elicits an incomprehensible sound out of her, between a moan and a gasp, and then she's placing herself over him, his tip grazing her wetness and that's about enough to send him over the edge; but she swallows him after that, her tightness burying him deep into her until he couldn't breathe, and both of them gasp at the overwhelmingly pleasurable sensation.

Like clockwork, his hands curl around her hips as she begins to move, marking a familiar pace that has both of them moaning and breathless. The sight of her body on top of his makes his focus swirl in and out, and it takes a monumental amount of grip to not smash her into the bed and fuck her senseless, seeing the hickeys he has left on her body and the many that are to come.

The thought of the many indecent positions that will ensue tonight makes him shudder, and her walls tighten on him as she slides around him. Her expression, he realizes, is contorted into raptured euphoria and a focus that hadn't been there before, probably more hellbent on pleasing him than anything else.

She turns her head from the ceiling to him, closing her forever parted lips and forming a smirk. "Look at you, all nice and– _ah_ , all nice and under me."

"The night will end with you _under_ me and we both know it."

"We're gonna have to see about– _ah_!"

His fingers travel south, from her hip to her legs, between which he finds the throbbing bundle of nerves that he knows will make her shatter. Her smirk dissolves into pursed lips, all bashful and undoubtedly focused on _not_ coming undone; he knows this because it's the same expression he's making, biting his lip to not scream at how _good_ she feels. It's a feeling he will _never_ get tired of, having her like this in all her bare glory, washed by the moonlight and the stars outside the window.

Making use of the last vestiges of control in him, he tugs at her just as she is sinking to him, meeting in a frenzied tight kiss as she buries him to the hilt, causing him to throw his head back in pure delight. Her lips descend to his neck, peppering it with marks and licks that make his body vibrate in radiant euphoria.

"Fuck…" The pace she sets is deliciously teasing, quick enough to stoke the flame but slow enough to have him seething for more. "Moon… go faster…"

A breathless giggle escapes her, a moan of her own interrupting her mid-spiel. "Remember what I said about manners, _my lord_?" She must have felt how he stiffened at that whispered nickname, but he has no time to berate himself over the action because she's taking him again and taking all focus out. "You gotta say pretty please…"

"Are you…" he musters his voice, his mind too blank to see clearly anymore, to _think_ clearly anymore. "Are you going to deny your Emperor, ma'am?"

Moon's breathing hitches at this, purely out of shock at his words, and when she looks at him, her eyes are hooded in pure delight. "I guess I can't deny the birthday boy what he wants."

And that's what sets her off, apparently; much like when they fight and he feels the small _click_ of her switching into serious battling, her pace quickens to a much less subtle tease until it's reeling moans out of him and much louder cries and whimpers out of her. The tides of pleasure rock harder and harder against them, building within them as a feeling of absolute pleasure and glory curls within them, coiling, hissing, burning into a flame that reaches the sky and hangs the stars behind their eyes.

His arms tighten around her body, keeping her glued to him as they move frantically, one hand tangled into her hair as the other keeps her glued to him; Gladion can't have her separating _one sole inch_ from him, not even one. He only lets her move to shift and kiss him, tongues meeting in a battle that won't last for much longer, bodies brushing against one another, whispers of each other's names growing louder, louder, louder–

The dam collapses, fireworks flare in his eyes and her body stiffens before it _tightens_ around him and she releases around him, sending him into his climax with a whimpered groan he can hardly keep at bay. Her long, loud and high-pitched moan is much less subtle than his, and when her back slackens from its arch and her eyes are no longer closed in absolute bliss, Gladion can barely register her moving, dots behind his eyes making it hard to see her. His body is numb, as all the feeling and vigor he had put into pleasuring her had left him along with his release.

His body melts into the duvets, faintly aware of the small kisses she's pressing into his neck. There is a trace of a smirk, puffs of warm, wrecked breathing on his glistening skin. His hands absent-mindedly trace her body, and when he looks up again, he has blinked the stars away and what lies before him is the sun, smiling him in adoration.

And then comes the playful biting, the grin. "We're not done yet, Gladion," she sings, biting her lip. "We've got a long night ahead of ourselves."

A shaky chuckle shakes his frame. "That's fine by me."

Before she can resume her actions and shower him with even more love, she's being pushed down to the bed again, hands suddenly pinned over her head and a smirking Emperor looking down at her like she's about to become his next meal; something within those eyes of his makes her body vibrate with gusto, eyes wide.

"But I'll be taking control for a while now," he leans down, eyes narrow in rare mischief only her would pull out of him in their constant competitiveness. "So I'm going to take my presents now, if you don't mind."

And for the next hours, they make love until the wee hours of dawn, collapsing only when both have been satisfied and Gladion has lost track of time– or, rather, he can no longer see the clock in the tangled mess of blurred moans and marks that this night has become.

After some minutes of basking in the afterglow of the finale, Moon sits up in bed, covering herself with the thick, white duvets of the bed. Gladion lazily looks at her as she sits, observing her dazed state with soft adoration.

Moon rubs her right eye, looking out the window as he sits up too, groggy and boneless. "We kinda dozed off for a while."

Gladion presses a kiss on her temple, then nods. "Looks like we did."

She chuckles gently, turning to cup his cheek, smiling. "Happy birthday to you, Gladion." His jaw clicks as he yawns. "Someone looks tired."

He leans into her touch, unable to hesitate after the burst of activity of tonight. "You were the one fighting me all the time. I would say it took more of a toll on you than it did on me."

"The amount of times you did it to me is blasphemous."

"I have _never_ heard you use that word and I can't believe you used it first referring to _sex_."

"Well, if it made you happy, I can't complain," she says, satisfied and blissful, nudging his nose with hers in a way that makes him sigh. Her shoulders shake as she giggles, and casting a look behind him, she comes to an abrupt conclusion. "The sun's gonna rise in no time."

Gladion looks over his shoulder. The night is still dark, but over their hours of lovemaking, the moonlight had disappeared. There's endless dark spread on the sky, stars included, but no moonlight. The only thing illuminating her is the bright starlight spread over her pale skin.

"We spent all night going at it."

Him being so shameless about the fact is rare, but the little laugh she lets out, as if ashamed, is even rarer. "That's what you get for being one provocative, pretentious Emperor. You know your shirts do bad things to me."

"Says the one who was wearing a whole set of _red_ lingerie and a dress full of bows. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Oh, I _know_." His brow sinks at her teasing, the wag of her eyebrows, but it dissolves into appeased mirth as she kisses his nose. "It was fun. I always have fun when I'm with you."

Only covered by the thick blankets as she is, Gladion can't help but find her ethereal in her small frame, in the curl of her legs and the slouched posture of her body. There are a few bruises on her body that will take a few days to heal, but he's got it a lot worse; when she said she would make him feel good, she certainly hadn't been joking.

Her body tilts to a side in what he interprets an attempt to lean close to him and cuddle a little, but then her body springs back up, and Moon darts away from him, taking the duvet with herself. "Wait, wait! I'm a disaster–"

"What?"

"Your _present_!" Moon says as she leans away from him and reaches for the nightstand. Much to his surprise, she's looking on the small stand by _his_ side of the bed, and not the one _she_ usually sleeps on. Her hand rummages through the drawers. "I _swear_ I left it here!"

"You left my gift on _my_ nightstand?"

Moon looks over her shoulder. "Were you gonna look for your presents or something? You don't use these drawers anyway."

That shuts him up and she grins, softer than usual, and she ends up taking a small wrapped package from the drawer. She fidgets with the gift, her nails scraping the delicate golden thread wrapped around the actual paper, and she moves closer to where she's handing him the gift and they're leaning on each other. Moon eagerly watches him, drumming her fingers on the duvet over her knees.

"It's just a little detail. I think you're gonna like it, but you know I'm not the best with gifts."

"All the hickeys on our bodies beg to differ."

With an embarrassed pout, she backhands his chest and urges him to open it, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. There is a full beam of emotion that makes his heart clamor in his chest, but as he turns to look at her, she is nudging him with pursed lips, urging him to open the package.

"I hope you like it." Her voice is small but soft. A kiss ensues after her words, lips on his shoulder. "I know it's not gonna be like that _fucking_ sword Ilima got you, but I think it will suffice."

Gladion says no more and slips his fingers through the folds of the present. The paper crinkles and comes undone, falling to the blankets with a muted noise while Gladion is left to observe the present in his hands, speechless for what seems to be the umpteenth time this night.

In his hands lies a small canvas of muted colors with a married couple in old dresses and two kids; being more specific, the Aedus Family is there, and if he squints, he can see Wicke right by who Gladion deems to be Mohn of Aedus, who is holding a small Lillie in his arms, not much more than a baby at the time. Gladion is on his feet, one hand on Lusamine's long robe as they all smile to the painter, vibrant and happy. Nobody in that picture had seen the events of the future coming, but the picture is just as timeless as the woman who had just handed it to him.

Moon bites her lip, mistaking his awe for confusion. "I… I found it while looking for books in Lusamine's basement. It was all gross and had lots of, uh, I think it's called depigmentation." She gulps, playing with her fingers. "There's this very famous artist who lives in Altaria Bay, a friend of mine and now Ilima's, called Mina Kahalea. I asked her to restore the painting and she did a pretty good job, you see."

Yeah, that she fucking had. There are quite a few paintings of Mohn, Lusamine, and Lillie all over the palace, but per Lillie's word, all paintings with Gladion in them had been thrown somewhere else to not torment Lusamine with the memory of what had been a lost son back then.

Seeing himself in an actual _canvas_ with his family and not a flimsy paper is… weird. New. Refreshing. Gladion is well aware that he has a family now, people who love him and cherish him for who he was, for who he is, and for who he might become in the future. This glimpse into the past hadn't been necessary, but it certainly makes his heart twist in very pleasant ways– even more so considering he has who he considers to be his _future_ sitting next to him.

It reminds him that he has a family everywhere he sees. Gladion isn't alone anymore.

One of his hands rises to her cheek, pushing some disheveled bangs out of her face. "It's an amazing gift. I would have never expected you to make me such a heartfelt present."

"I was scared of overstepping," she confesses. Her voice is a few degrees smaller. "I don't wanna meddle into your family's affairs. I know Lusamine is still a pretty touchy subject, and that your father is even much more of a–"

Before she can continue rambling, he shuts her up with a kiss on her forehead– it works wonders whenever she's scared about screwing up, a small cure for anxiety that he has picked from her during younger days. It's not one he indulges into very often, but he's far too relaxed and far too blissful now to hold himself back from being as affectionate as possible.

They always reserve their affections for the morning, and it _technically_ is morning time now. "You don't need to be scared of that. I have a new family of my own now, you know." The way he brushes his thumb over her cheek elicits a sharp inhale out of her. "We need to get one picture of our own, just the two of us. And another with Hau and Lillie."

Moon, just as molten as him, leans into his touch. "That'd be very nice," she hums. "I could ask Mina to come by. She told me she'd love to paint us a picture for free. Ilima's charm worked on her too."

"Does that mean he will stop sending you flowers?"

"You know he's just doing it to piss you off, right?"

"I know." And it's working. "It's just an enormous waste of money on a ridiculous fixation. It's not like he will get a move on you anytime soon."

"Oh, of course he won't." Gladion doesn't need the reassurance in the slightest, but he loves the way she looks at him when she says it anyway. "Not after tonight. Tonight was… pretty damn great."

"Mhm," he hums, leaning to kiss her temple, curling an arm around her shoulders. He leaves the canvas at the feet of the bed, and then peppers kisses along her cheek as she giggles and leans close to him. "It was an amazing night. And we didn't break the bed this time, so that's an even better turn-on for me."

Moon laughs at that, not at all surprised by his antics. Her laughter is unabashed despite the soft blush clinging to her cheeks, and his heart squeezes at both the sight and the sound. When she turns to press a kiss on his cheek, Gladion smiles. "Arceus, I love it when you laugh like that."

Her giggles die down, and she cups his cheek. Her fingertips are warm against his skin, like dots of sunlight blessing his skin. "And I love it when you smile like that."

"Like that?"

"Like you have nothing to worry about. And you're just a little more carefree than usual, y'know?" Her sincere eyes blink, warm and kind, and a small smile curls into view. Gladion has learned that the smaller her smiles, the deeper the sentiment is. He loves these little things more than he'd ever let her know. "It's adorable."

Before he can stop himself from speaking, his mouth moves on its own. "Well, that's thanks to you." He nuzzles her cheek and pulls her close to where she's sitting between his legs, tugging the duvet over her shoulders. "I learned to live happily and without a care thanks to you– even if our jobs now are quite the opposite from quiet." He lifts the hand on his cheek to brush his lips on her knuckles, and he hears a telltale squeak muffled in her throat. "So thank you. For… everything."

His lips brush over the small mountains of her hands, taking in the roughness of her palms and the softness of her hand, how her breathing grows deep and her gray eyes widen in realization, taking in the meaning of his words. Buried in blankets and without clothes, it's easy to feel close to one another, but it's encounters like these that truly make him realize how much he adores this woman, who drives him insane but also makes him the happiest he's ever been.

Moon is a blessing that he can no longer live without.

And by the way she looks at him, her smile kind and eyes even more so, it looks like she might feel the same. "Why do you have to be so sappy? You nearly bested your wedding vows."

"That's hard to beat. I don't see you crying this time."

Sighing, she leans her weight on his chest, fitting her head on the crook of his neck. "You'll be the death of me someday, you know."

"You're already the death of me, so at least we'll be even."

"Arceus on a pillow, _Gladion_."

Laughing quietly, he curls his arms tighter around her and falls back to the mattress with her in his arms. Her body fits against him like clockwork, and when she rubs her forehead on his chest, making herself comfortable, he feels like everything is right in the world. "Before we get that picture done, we should make sure we don't have hickeys all over."

"Getting a royal portrait done where the Emperors have hickeys would be scandalous."

The lack of bite or drama in her voice makes it evident she, as Gladion knows, _adores_ scandal. She doesn't like the full-blown dramatic news or the preposterous reports, but rather the small details that will one day land him in a graveyard.

That would be a happy way to die.

But dying with her in his arms would be a much better way to say goodbye. But as long as she's alive, then he has to be alive, too; that had been one of their promises during their wedding days, after all.

Not to go where the other can't follow.

He traces small circles on her back. "We should get some sleep. We still have some hours ahead of us until we're supposed to be up. We'll be sore tomorrow."

A quiet nod follows his suggestion, and Moon murmurs something he can't quite hear, but the soft voice she says it with is enough for him to know what the sentiment had been. His lips morph into a satisfied smile, feeling the first streaks of sunrise coming through the horizon and bathing both in lilac and orange lights.

His eyes flutter open. Small sparkles of sunshine catch with her hair, with her closed eyes and her radiant skin. He takes the liberty of pushing her hair off her face, exhaling as he takes in her quietness, her peace, and her blissfully peaceful expression.

He's at peace, too. Free. Happy. In love. Physically spent, but emotionally full.

So, when he falls asleep, it's with the consciousness that he's safe, that she's safe, and that wherever they shall go, they will be together until the end of time.

And he can't wait to live tomorrow with her by his side, too, forever and always.

**Author's Note:**

> Gladion, chapter 2 of 400cq: I'm going to fucking kill you  
> Moon in this fic: you might want the 'kill' off that sentence darling
> 
> you might wonder why I wrote so much fluff in a piece as shamelessly smutty as this one, and I have no answer for you. I know I could have taken that away to decrease the wordcount, but I didn't. Why? Catharsis. You're welcome. Also I am very embarrassed about everything in this fic so please be kind to me LMAO JBHFUJIDKMNFJKDKSA I will proceed to remove my innocent mask and throw myself to the abyss now
> 
> after 80 chapters of bickering, 20 chapters of thin sexual tension and a happy finale I have achieved bliss and my spirit can now move on to heaven, thanks and goodbye


End file.
